Polymeric Tadpole Structures

In 2015 the group built on previous work published during 2014, which developed nanoparticles in the shapes of worms and rods. They were the first to demonstrate the creation of polymeric tadpole structures, with a paper appearing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “With the tadpole structure, the tail can have a different functionality to the head, which can be important in vaccine and drug delivery where the optimal application requires more than one agent to be administered,” Professor Monteiro said. Further work published in the European Polymer Journal developed methods to accurately measure the molecular weight of polymers using size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The paper received more than 3,000 views in the first six months following its publication, indicating wide scientific appeal.